International Journal of Technical Research and Applications e-ISSN: 2320-8163,

www.ijtra.com Volume-2, Special Issue 3 (July-Aug 2014), PP. 34-35

34 | P a g e
THE SYSTEM OF SENSE-CREATIVE CONTEXT
AS A FACTOR OF SELF-REGULATION IN
LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE
Elena Stakanova, PhD
Southern Federal University SFU, Department of English for the Humanities,
Rostov-on-Don,
Russian, Federation

AbstractUsing sense-creative technologies in teaching English
as foreign language (EFL) is becoming a burning issue in the
modern classroom due to challenges that University graduates
face in real life. The concept of life-long learning is an evident
response to these challenges. The study warrants close scrutiny
and reveals the concept of "sense-creative context" as a factor of
self-regulation in learning a foreign language. This paper shows
methods underpinning sense-creative and communicative
technologies, such as project work, problem-solving tasks.
Communicative activities facilitate semantic field in professional
success, shape students' learner autonomy and allow taking the
responsibility for the results of mastering a target language. The
author concludes that learning a foreign language should be
directed to the formation of deep personal meaning and intrinsic
motivation.
Key words English as a foreign language, motivation, self-
regulation, sense-creation technologies.
I. INTRODUCTION
As far as teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) is
concerned, a special interest should be given to all the skills of
that language (writing, speaking, listening, and reading) from
both the teachers as well as the learners. This interest is the
responsibility of both partners of the teaching-learning process
at all stages of learning. When it comes to higher education
precisely, language learners should give equal importance to
each of the skills because mastering one rather than the other
will result in a gap. For this reason, language learners should
have a good mastery of all of those skills.
Without denying the importance of any skill, our focus in
this paper goes particularly to the method of teaching EFL
using sense-creative technologies which promote the
motivation of learning English as a foreign language. The latter
has attracted our attention for the simple reason that our
students suffer from many weaknesses in the language
acquisition, thats why we decided to spot the light on such
aspects as self-regulation and sense-creative context.
II. THE ESSENCE OF SENSE-CREATIVE CONTEXT
The purpose of EFL teaching is the formation of
communicative competence, which includes the linguistic
aspect, thematic and socio-cultural information. The student
should master life-long skills and abilities maintaining and
improving the achieved level of communicative competence. It
is also important to form students' ability to self-motivate their
activities.
The transition to personal-semantic paradigm of education
creates real conditions for the implementation of the sense-
creation context. Sense-creation context is a system of sense
technologies that motivates students, and, therefore,
stimulates personal development and promotes the English
language learning to the level of professional and life values
[7]. Personal-semantic paradigm is the original conceptual
approach to education aimed at developing the student's
personality, his determination, self-realization and social
adaptation. The individualization of education on the basis of
student-centered differentiation provides the development of
EFL learners, allows forming the skills of self-education and
self-actualization of the person.
Due to personal-sense orientation, students decide for
themselves whether a foreign language serves as a tool of
studying another subject in the curriculum or it is the
international means of exchanging information and experience.
Learners should improve their cognitive activity, self-
regulation, since the process of learning a foreign language is
not only formation of knowledge, skills and abilities, but also
the development of personality traits. Self-regulation reveals a
person's ability to improve, rebuild their inner world (needs,
motives, goals) and the outside world (social norms), based on
cultural values.
It has been postulated [5] that the EFL teaching process is
now seen as a kind of "pyramid", where the simplest facts of
mastering specific knowledge to develop individual skills and
behaviors lie at the base of the pyramid, and the vertex is the
formation of personality in all its richness and integrity".
III. SELF-REGULATION COMPONENTS.
A number of interrelated and interdependent components of
self-regulation of students when learning a foreign language
has been identified [3]:
psychological (motivation, positive attitude to EFL
learning, intellectual abilities and capacities, cognitive
development, self-regulation);
communicative (language acquisition, lexical and
grammatical exercises, cultural and cross-cultural information);
methodological (learner autonomy, self-assessment,
global personality development).
It should be noted that for successful professional
fulfillment a foreign language has to become a personal value.
Sense-creative context initiates a specific semantic potential of
students, allowing them to regulate their actions, to set goals, to
learn the language, to improve their knowledge, to exercise
self-esteem and self-control. Thus, we are using sense-creative
technologies to initiate the development of semantic sphere of
students [1].
IV. ACTIVITY-BASED APPROACHES
Noteworthy studies of sense-creative technologies aim at
developing the personality of a student through the experience
of learning a foreign language. They fulfill wider educational
objectives (attitudinal change and motivation, learner
International Journal of Technical Research and Applications e-ISSN: 2320-8163,
www.ijtra.com Volume-2, Special Issue 3 (July-Aug 2014), PP. 34-35
35 | P a g e
awareness). Therefore, motivation for the learning of the
foreign language needs to be enhanced by project work, games,
problem-solving assignments, decision-making tasks, role
plays which help to create a positive attitude both towards the
foreign language and towards to oneself as a learner [2].
Project work has the following characteristics [6]:
They are open and flexible and it is the students who
occupy center stage.
They involve the teacher and students negotiating
objectives, planning together, monitoring and
evaluating processes and results.
They incorporate the students previous knowledge
and personal experiences.
They appeal to students imagination, creativity.
The thematic content is related to the students
immediate environment and interests.
They require use of all the language skills and
organizational strategies.
Language is approached globally, not sequentially,
according to the needs created by the task.
Project work, like other activity-based learning process,
tends to be fun and engaging. However, language learning
requires more than that. Conditions for EFL learning include
the processing of large quantities of what Krashen [4] called
comprehensible language input and also what Swain [8]
called comprehensible language output.
At this juncture, we should say that sense-creative paradigm
improves practical mastery of the language, and concomitantly,
enhances overall emotional culture and cognitive activity of
students. Creating a series of communicative activities
involving sense-creation facilitates interest, initiate and sustain
intrinsic motivation.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the semantic self-
regulation is the formation of goal-setting, self-control, self-
esteem. It allows learners to realize the importance of self-
training for their future careers. The study merits further
investigation.
REFERENCES
[1] Abakumova I.V. Education and sense: sense-creation in the
academic process. Rostov-On-Don, Southern Federal
University; 2006. P.480
[2] Verbitsky A.A. Context as sense-creation psychological
category. Yaroslavl psychological herald; 2005;Vol.15; 198:
102-107
[3] Kapaeva A.E. Formation of students motivation to learning
foreign languages. Foreign languages at school, 3, 2001
[4] Krashen S.D. The Input Hypothesis Issues and Implications.
New York: Longman. 1985
[5] Leontyev D.A. Language and speech activity in general and
educational psychology. Moscow, 2004. P.535
[6] Rabon Rib, Nuria Vidal. Project Work. Oxford: Macmillan
Heinemann, 2006. P.94
[7] Stakanova E.V. Psychological features of semantic self-
regulation of students when learning a foreign language in a
sense-creative context. Rostov-on-Don, 2006. P.190
[8] Swain M. Communicative competence: some roles of
comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its
development. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House, 1985.